May 22, 2026
Having accepted that we would not have a blue tit family to watch this year, and with the camera being out of action for a while, we checked it this week to the wonderful surprise of six little blue tit chicks.
Quite how the parents flew in and out, eggs were laid, incubated, and chicks were hatched without us noticing is a mystery.
The female would have laid one egg a day earlier this month, then, once they are all laid, she would have started to incubate the clutch, sitting on the eggs for about two weeks while her male brought her food. She would also have had some time out of the nest box to find her own food.
The naked, blind chicks hatched, looking like mobile baked beans. Each chick can eat 100 caterpillars a day, so these parents are now extremely busy. We will share more photos, as proud parents always do, and we hope that some or all of our babies will fledge soon after half term.
If you walk past the building on Broadway, please look up at our nest box. You may well see the parents flying back and forth as they feed their ever-growing young. When they have fledged, you may see and hear the family in the nearby trees.